Interview: CIVORTEP

Civortep is a progressive death metal project of Stefan Petrovic who gathered a group of guest musicians to help him with the creation and release of his debut EP “The Return.”

In the interview below, Stefan explains the meaning behind the project’s name, his writing process, and more.

What made you go for the name Civortep?

It is my last name backwards, I always thought it sounded neat so for my producer name I chose to have it as that.

How do you usually describe your music?

It has a little bit of everything in it! Not exclusive of any style, but I pretty much just go with what comes to mind and sounds equally as good.

What is your writing process like?

Write, Refine, Refine, Refine. For me I can’t play a lick and have it be a polished piece of gold from the beginning. It takes a lot of refining to get it to the point that I feel it is good enough to go with. And even then I may go back and build off of it even more.

Who or what is your inspiration, if you have any?

My biggest inspiration is independent musicians that can promote themselves and build an organic image without being manipulated both in their music and persona by the industry, which in my opinion produces clones, lacking in originality, like its existence depends on it.

What is your favourite piece on the “The Return” album?

I’m stuck between Shadow Covenant and The Return as my two favorites. The words are definitely the strongest points in my opinion, and I felt that the way I sung them expressed the emotion I was going for very well.

What makes “The Return” different?

It has a lot of elements that are very scarce within the metal community. I don’t like to be gridlocked by a method or any single type of approach, so I went all out including elements with synths, orchestra parts, and tons of sound effects.

What should music lovers expect from “The Return”?

A ton of variety that can pretty much satisfy any taste, from heavy elements, to atmospheric and melodic.

What kind of emotions would you like your audience to feel when they listen to your music?

I approached this album with a vision of including all emotions, so I hope that would translate over to the listener. There’s definitely enough variety within it to satisfy pretty much the whole emotional spectrum.

Pick your three favourite albums that you would take on a desert island with you.